Welfare reform
Published on:It is important that the DWP use the hard lessons it learned from implementing its recent programme of welfare reforms to improve how it manages change and anticipates risk.
It is important that the DWP use the hard lessons it learned from implementing its recent programme of welfare reforms to improve how it manages change and anticipates risk.
For the first time since 2009-10, the Social Fund White Paper account has not been qualified on the grounds of the completeness, existence and valuation of the debt balance.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his audit opinion owing to the material level of fraud and error in benefit expenditure.
The government continues to lose large amounts of money through fraud and error overpayments and many vulnerable people get less support than they are entitled to.
Remploy and the Department for Work & Pensions completed the disposal of Remploy factories within a tight timetable and below budget.
The DWP has not to date achieved value for money in the development of Universal Credit and to do so in future it will need to learn the lessons of past failures.
The welfare cap is encouraging a greater understanding of spending on some benefits and tax credits across government, but it is important that processes for managing the cap are reliable.
The Department for Work & Pensions should have increased its focus on Housing Benefit fraud and error sooner, and is now facing an escalating problem.
The NAO welcomes the progress being made by the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency in reducing levels of fraud and error in benefit payments.
In our June 2012 report for the Department for Work and Pensions we recommended ways in which it could strengthen its oversight of the contract.
This NAO impacts case study represents one example where there has been some beneficial change, whether financial or non-financial, resulting from our involvement.
The Department for Work and Pensions has not yet achieved value for money in managing contracted-out health and disability assessments.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has qualified his audit opinion on the regularity of the National Employment Savings Trust Corporation’s 2012-13 Annual Report and Accounts, on the ground that the Corporation incurred fraudulent expenditure in the year.
Universal Credit plans were driven by an ambitious timescale, and this led to the adoption of a new approach. The programme suffered from weak management and ineffective control.
Review of a sample of the data systems underpinning the input and impact indicators in the Department for Work and Pensions’ Business Plan, Common Areas of Spend and wider management information.
This review was carried out on the 2012-15 Business Plan. Revised Business Plans were issued in June 2013.
Measures to encourage people to save for retirement are not being managed by Departments with enough coherence or accountability.
BIS will not be well-placed to secure value for money on student loan repayments until it has a more robust strategy to improve collection performance.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s audit of the DWP’s Social Fund White Paper Account for 2012-13 has revealed substantial improvements in many areas over which he had previously expressed concerns.
The jobcentre network has coped well in the economic downturn, but must improve performance measures if it is to support claimants effectively.
The provision of adequate adult social care poses a significant public service challenge. Demand for care is rising while public spending is falling.
This commentary, on the first set of Work Programme data, has been produced for the Committee of Public Accounts.